1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system capable of managing (or collecting information with regard to) disposal situations of wastes in real time even by a third party. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for managing dynamic situations of wastes, which is able to realize centralized management of transport routes of waste transporting vehicles for transporting wastes generated in particular facilities, construction sites, etc., arrival of the vehicles to a disposal site, and dumping of the wastes, and which enables management information to be provided even to a third party.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transportation of wastes generated in construction sites, etc. from places of waste generation to a final disposal site and dumping of the wastes in the final disposal site are performed by small- to medium-size companies under subcontract at present. However, a company who has subcontracted disposal of wastes has no means for monitoring how the wastes are transported to a disposal site and then dumped in the disposal site after delivery of the wastes to the companies under subcontract. This has raised a problem that it is impossible to confirm the places to which the wastes have been transported by the companies under subcontract, and in which the wastes have been dumped.
To overcome the above-mentioned problem, as one of systems for preventing illegal dumping of industrial wastes, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 9-142609, entitled xe2x80x9cIndustrial-Waste Disposal and Management Information Systemxe2x80x9d, proposes a waste disposal and management information system for monitoring dynamic situations of industrial-waste transporting vehicles by utilizing satellite communication and the GPS (Global Positioning System).
With the proposed system, a management terminal receives position information of the waste transporting vehicle, which is computed by an onboard terminal of the waste transporting vehicle based on electronic waves received from a GPS satellite, monitors the transport route of the waste transporting vehicle based on the received position information, and further monitors arrival of the waste transporting vehicle to a waste disposal site, i.e., a final destination of the transport route. Therefore, the proposed system is able to monitor travel situations and loading/unloading situations of the individual waste transporting vehicles, but is not intended to monitor the particulars of the loaded wastes and disposal/dumping situations.
In consideration of the above, the inventor has already developed and proposed xe2x80x9cCollected-Waste Disposal Information Systemxe2x80x9d (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 10-95505, referred to as xe2x80x9cSCMSxe2x80x9d (Satellite Communication Management System) hereinafter) utilizing the GPS, SCMS II (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 10-95506) that is an improved version of SCMS, i.e., a system for monitoring and preventing general wastes from being carried into an incineration facility not designated (public incineration site outside a specific area), as well as SCMS III that has improved communication systems of SCMS and SCMS II.
To explain SCMS in more detail, it is a system for monitoring a flow of waste disposal by collecting information using satellite communication so that waste disposal steps carried out by a waste source company, a collecting/transporting company and an intermediate treating company can be managed, and for rapidly preparing and providing necessary information from the collected information. Thus, SCMS is a system for managing works and travel of waste transporting vehicles by monitoring a flow of waste disposal while collecting information using satellite communication so that waste disposal steps carried out by a waste source company, a collecting/transporting company and an intermediate treating company can be managed, and for rapidly preparing and providing necessary information from the collected information.
Specifically, SCMS is a system for managing works and travel of waste transporting vehicles with satellite communication by employing a barcode label and a load slip in combined manner, the load slip containing necessary items put on it based on related information, including barcode information, inputted to a terminal for satellite communication. Stated otherwise, SCMS is a system for managing works and travel of vehicles for transporting wastes under special management with satellite communication by employing a barcode label and a load slip in combined manner, the load slip containing necessary items put on it based on related information, including barcode information, inputted to a terminal for satellite communication.
Furthermore, SCMS is a waste disposal information system for monitoring a flow of waste disposal while collecting information using satellite communication so that waste disposal steps carried out by a knocking-down/waste source company, a collecting/transporting company and an intermediate treating company can be managed, and for rapidly preparing and providing necessary information from the collected information, the system employing a barcode label and a load slip in combined manner, the load slip containing necessary items put on it based on related information, including barcode information, inputted to a terminal for satellite communication.
The above waste disposal information system is applied to wastes under special management with satellite communication by employing a barcode label and a load slip in combined manner, the load slip containing necessary items put on it based on related information, including barcode information, inputted to a terminal for satellite communication.
Those systems have been developed for collecting and managing wastes under special management (including classified wastes that are explosive, toxic or infectious and possibly hurt human health and living environments, but also general wastes that are generated in large amount and may give rise to a substantial influence from the viewpoint of environment pollution when dumped). From viewpoint of collecting information, information directly indicating dynamic situations of waste transporting vehicles is also effective other than reading of a barcode attached to a load. As a matter of course, information collection may be performed by utilizing both types of information in combined use or utilizing one type of information for supplemental purpose.
SCMS II is an improved version of SCMS and intends to collect information based on information directly indicating dynamic situations of waste transporting vehicles instead of reading a barcode. Such information collection can be realized with SCMS II by setting an onboard terminal for satellite communication, which is used in SCMS, in each of permitted waste transporting vehicles and then doing works in the same manner as in SCMS.
More specifically, information regarding dynamic situations of the waste transporting vehicle is collected by adding, to each waste transporting vehicle used with SCMS, the function of sensing actuation of a loading device with a sensor at the time of loading wastes on the vehicle and then transmitting sensed information to an SCMS management center via a communication satellite, the function of sensing dumping or unloading operation performed for disposal of the wastes that have been carried into an incineration facility, and then transmitting sensed information to the SCMS management center via the communication satellite, etc.
Waste management in accordance with SCMS and SCMS II is automatically performed at the SCMS management center using the satellite communication system. Data regarding when and where the waste transporting vehicle has collected wastes and when and where the waste transporting vehicle has unloaded the collected wastes, etc. is obtained by the SCMS management center via the satellite communication system. The obtained data is automatically subjected to matching work with a computer so as to check whether the obtained data are matched with the preset management information and conditions. Thus, SCMS and SCMS II are able to prevent illegal dumping of wastes by monitoring the occurrence of problems such as xe2x80x9cwaste dumping at improper placesxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cwaste dumping outside designated areaxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cimproper mixing of wastesxe2x80x9d.
In SCMS and SCMS II, information is exchanged between the waste transporting vehicles and the management center using the satellite communication system. However, the satellite communication is disadvantageous in that the communication charge is relatively high and economical burdens upon users are increased. On the other hand, Dopa communication (e.g., packet communication provided by NTT-Docomo in Japan) requiring communication charge lower than the satellite communication has been practiced in recent years. With the Dopa communication, however, communication between the waste transporting vehicle and the SCMS management center cannot be established when the waste transporting vehicle is located in a communication-disabled area.
In view of the above, the inventor has previously proposed a system (SCMS III) in which communication between the waste transporting vehicle and the SCMS management center is performed using both the Dopa communication and the satellite communication in such a manner that the communication between them is established via the satellite communication in an area where the Dopa communication is disabled, but is established via the Dopa communication in an area where the Dopa communication is enabled.
The systems described above are effective in that, after a company under subcontract has received wastes, a company who has subcontracted disposal of the wastes monitors transportation of the wastes to a final disposal site and dumping of the wastes in the final disposal site. However, those systems cannot be said as being satisfactory for management with regard to xe2x80x9ccarrying-in of wastes before or after scheduled timexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ccarrying-in of wastes by vehicles other than scheduledxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9ccarrying-in of wastes other than permittedxe2x80x9d. This means that inhabitants around the final disposal site are still faced to a problem of worsening in environment.
In view of the state of the art set forth above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for managing carrying-in of wastes into a final disposal site, which can monitor transport routes of waste transporting vehicles, can monitor dumping situations of the wastes in the final disposal site, and enables even a third party to monitor them.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing dynamic situations of wastes and waste transporting vehicles using barcodes, the system comprising means for measuring a position of each of the waste transporting vehicles; and means for monitoring a transport route of each vehicle based on the measured position, wherein when the measuring means measures the position of the waste transporting vehicle, the monitoring means monitors the transport route of the vehicle based on the measured position, thereby managing the transport route of the vehicle and arrival to a disposal site in real time in a centralized manner.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing dynamic situations of wastes and waste transporting vehicles using barcodes, the system further comprising means for monitoring a vehicle transporting wastes to a disposal site, whereby arrival of the waste transporting vehicle to the final disposal site is monitored.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing dynamic situations of wastes and waste transporting vehicles using barcodes, the system further comprising means for monitoring a vehicle transporting wastes to a disposal site, the monitoring means comprising an ID tag attached to the waste transporting vehicle and an ID tag reader provided in an access passage to the disposal site, whereby arrival of the waste transporting vehicle to the final disposal site is monitored.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing dynamic situations of wastes and waste transporting vehicles using barcodes, the system further comprising means for monitoring a vehicle transporting wastes to a disposal site, the monitoring means comprising an ID tag attached to the waste transporting vehicle, an ID tag reader provided in an access passage to the disposal site, and an opening/closing gate opened and closed in accordance with a result of reading the ID tag, whereby arrival of the waste transporting vehicle to the final disposal site is monitored.
With the present invention having the features set forth above, the following advantages are obtained. Since the monitoring means monitors the transport route of the waste transporting vehicle, it is possible to manage the transport route of the waste transporting vehicle and arrival to the final disposal site in real time in a centralized manner. Also, by monitoring abnormality in the passage time along the transport route of the waste transporting vehicle (i.e., by managing time schedule in waste transportation), whether the waste transporting vehicle is under an abnormal condition or not can be monitored and checked with certainty. If the waste transporting vehicle is under an abnormal condition, a necessary instruction can be given to that vehicle from a system management center.
The time schedule in waste transportation can be managed with higher accuracy by correcting the scheduled passage time as appropriate depending on traffic information on that day. In some cases, for the purpose of cutting down the work time, the shortest route to the destination from the time point of view is set again as a new transport route to avoid a traffic jam.
The wastes carried into the final disposal site can be managed based on the travel route of the waste transporting vehicle, and management of the waste carrying-in time and determination of the incoming vehicle can be made with the provision of a gate management system in the final disposal site. It is therefore possible to prevent illegal waste dumping.
Since management information is distributed via the Internet, the information can be made open if necessary, and this is effective in mitigating anxiety in inhabitants.
Since the system of the present invention is a system transmitting manifest slip information to a manifest management center at the time of loading wastes, information including the place where an accident has occurred, the kind and amount of load (wastes), the countermeasure, actions to be taken into account, and so on can be automatically informed to the parties concerned, who are previously registered, in an urgent case.